Rwanda Senior Agronomist, Conservation Agriculture (Fixed-Term)
About One Acre Fund
Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.
Our Rwanda program, founded in 2007 is our largest and operates under the local brand Tubura. We have more than 3,000 staff across all four provinces of Rwanda, as well as in Kigali. Together, we served more than 2.8 million farmers in 2024. We work closely with the government to support national efforts to improve food security. Additionally, we help channel funding and resources to promising agri-SMEs, supporting farmers by providing a market for high-impact crops such as coffee, avocado, and chilli.
About the Role
We are seeking a highly skilled and passionate Senior Agronomist with in-depth expertise and at least 6 years of experience in Conservation Agriculture and deploying farmer training in these practices in the field.
Responsibilities
Conservation Agriculture Strategy & Extension Development
- Develop and continuously improve scalable conservation agriculture advisory models in collaboration with farmer advisory and field teams.
- Design practical extension materials, training manuals, visual guides, and digital tools tailored to diverse farmer needs and contexts.
- Translate technical concepts including cover cropping, minimum tillage, agroforestry, and integrated pest management into practical field-based curricula.
- Adapt advisory approaches and materials based on climate, soil, socioeconomic conditions, farmer feedback, and field learning.
Farmer Training, Field Deployment & Adoption
- Provide hands-on technical guidance to field teams delivering farmer trainings, workshops, Farmer Field Schools, and demonstration plots.
- Build the capacity of field staff and local extension agents to effectively promote and support conservation agriculture adoption.
- Provide timely agronomic troubleshooting to farmers and field teams addressing crop, soil, pest, and climate-related challenges.
- Work with MEL and field teams to develop and implement systems that track adoption, farmer outcomes, and opportunities for scaling.
Agronomic Research, Practice Optimization & Impact
- Evaluate and refine conservation agriculture practices to improve soil health, water retention, biodiversity, productivity, and farmer profitability.
- Collaborate with R&D teams to design and oversee field assessments of soil health, crop performance, and environmental outcomes.
- Analyze field evidence and farmer feedback to identify high-impact practices and recommend improvements to conservation agriculture programming.
- Translate research findings and field learning into practical recommendations, extension content, and scalable implementation models.
Partnership & Cross-Functional Project Leadership
- Build and manage strategic relationships with public, private, NGO, academic, and other technical partners supporting conservation agriculture initiatives.
- Coordinate project plans, timelines, deliverables, reporting, and data sharing across internal teams and external consortium partners.
- Represent the conservation agriculture program in technical discussions and ensure strong alignment between farmer needs, organizational priorities, and partner objectives.
- Identify opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and resource mobilization that strengthen program quality, scale, and long-term impact.
Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.
Qualifications
Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:
- Master’s degree in Agronomy, Agroecology, Crop Science, Soil Science, or a closely related agricultural field.
- Minimum 6 years of relevant professional experience in agronomy, conservation agriculture, regenerative agriculture, or agroecological farming systems.
- Proven experience developing agricultural extension materials and leading farmer-facing training, capacity building, or advisory programs.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-stakeholder projects involving government, NGOs, research institutions, academia, or private-sector partners.
- Strong hands-on experience working directly with smallholder farmers and field teams, with willingness to travel extensively and spend significant time in rural settings.
- Proficiency in English is required; additional regional or international languages are an advantage.
Preferred Start Date
As soon as possible
Job Location
Kigali, Rwanda
Benefits
Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits
Contract Duration
2 years, renewable with a high chance based on good performance.
Eligibility
This role is open to all applicants; however, candidates with citizenship or permanent residency in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, or Burundi are strongly preferred.
Application Deadline
03 December 2026. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis, which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.
One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @ address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.
As published by greenhouse · 18 questions · 2 written answers
Basics
First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Resume/CV, Location
Short answers (4)
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- Are you a former One Acre Fund staff member?
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Written answers (2)
- Conservation agriculture principles can be difficult for smallholder farmers to adopt due to labour constraints or traditional farming habits. Describe a specific instance where you translated a complex agronomic concept into practical, low-risk practices that smallholders willingly integrated. How did you address farmer hesitation, and what were the measurable results of that adoption?
- This role requires seamless collaboration across internal teams (R&D, Field Operations, Extension, MEL) as well as external government or partner stakeholders. Describe a time when you had to align multiple cross-functional teams with competing priorities to deliver a complex agronomic initiative. How did you manage conflicting viewpoints, maintain clear communication, and keep the project moving forward on schedule?